Perhaps a welcome break from league football as Austin & New Mexico United face off to decide who makes it to next stage of the US Open Cup. All the pre-match information is available here!
Austin have less rest than New Mexico United in this fixture, as the hosts were involved in a Major League Soccer game only four days ago. That game was an away game at Portland Timbers, so at least Austin are thankful to return home in this one. Game on!
Austin form and stats
Austin was eliminated in the 3rd round last season in the US Open Cup.The home team returns to Al Saqr Stadium after drawing with Portland Timbers on their last time out; the game ended 2-2. Bruin was able to secure the draw 2-2 in the game against Portland Timbers after coming on as a substitute and scoring the final goal. In the starting lineup today? Wolff (midfield) was the top team player in that game with a rating of 7.63/10. Wolff served one assist, hit two key passes, dribled past the opponent 4 of 4 times and had 31 successful passes (of 36 total).
Preceding that game was the home draw versus SJ Earthquakes that ended 2-2.There's a new fixture coming up fairly quickly for Austin, as the Major League Soccer home game vs Dallas is only three days away.
Austin have prepared for this season with three friendly games versus mixed opposition. Results from training matches should always be treated with caution, but the takeaways from these three matches are 0 victories, 2 draws and 1 losses. In these games, Austin have scored {5 goals} and conceded 6 times.
New Mexico United form and stats
New Mexico United's mission in US Open Cup last season failed in the 3rd round.It's another away game for the visitors, as they travelled to Rio Grande Valley in their previous outing. The match ended in a draw 2-2. Mexico's last match (vs Rio Grande Valley) ended in drama as all points looked lost at the score 0-2. They did not give up, fought back and in the end a courageous finish rescued a draw after 90 minutes thanks to a 90th minute equalizer by Rivas.
Before that, New Mexico United secured a home win against Orange County with the score 3-1.A new game in only three days for Mexico, the USL Championship home match versus Monterey Bay. Busy days.
It's finally time to play a game of importance again as a long period of training has passed. New Mexico United have played a number of friendly games in this period, resulting in 2 wins, 2 draws and 0 defeats from four fixtures.
Head 2 Head
Top Goalscorers
  J. Gallagher 4 goals |  S. Driussi 2 goals |   S. Rivas 2 goals |
Austin missing players
New Mexico United missing players
| Austin | New Mexico United | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 14 | Played | P | 14 | 25 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Won | W | 1 | 9 | ||
| 9 | 8 | Drew | D | 7 | 8 | ||
| 11 | 2 | Lost | L | 6 | 8 | ||
| 27 | 21 | Scored | S | 18 | 44 | ||
| 43 | 16 | Conceded | C | 26 | 37 | ||
| 96% | 93% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 93% | 96% | ||
| 92% | 86% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 71% | 84% | ||
| 60% | 50% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 57% | 60% | ||
| 24% | 29% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 50% | 48% | ||
| 8% | 7% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 21% | 20% | ||
| 52% | 71% | BTTS | BTTS | 64% | 64% | ||
| 16% | 29% | Clean Sheets | C S | 14% | 20% | ||
| 36% | 7% | Failed to Score | F T | 29% | 20% | ||
| 5.2 | 6.6 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 1 | 2.9 | ||
| 5.7 | 4.9 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 7.3 | 5.1 | ||
| 1.5 | 0.9 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.4 | 2.5 | ||
| 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 13.2 | 15.5 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 7.6 | 10 | ||
| 3.9 | 4.7 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.2 | 3.3 | ||
| 27% | 32% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 38% | 51% | ||
| 12.4 | 10.9 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 8.3 | 8 | ||
| 4.5 | 3.3 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 3.6 | 3.5 | ||
